In the wake of the tragic murder-suicide that left Kansas City Chiefs’ linebacker Jovan Belcher and the mother of his child dead, Bob Costas decided to interject his politics into NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
During his halftime segment, Costas said:
"In the coming days, Jovan Belcher's actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. Who knows? ... If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today."
On Saturday, Belcher repeatedly shot Perkins, his girlfriend and the mother of his 3-month-old daughter, before driving to the team’s practice facility and shooting himself in the head.
The next day is not only the wrong time and place to bring up gun control, but the argument itself is wholly illogical.
As one person on Twitter said: “Yes, Bob Costas, guns are the problem. Nicole Brown Simpson would be alive today if OJ hadn't shot her with that knife.”
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that crazy, murderous people are going to go crazy and murder people, no matter what they have to use as a weapon. Knives, rocks, poison, fire, ropes … I’ve seen CSI; I know there are lots of ways to kill people.
Banning guns will do nothing to stop the killing problem. Not only that, but banning guns has been proven over and over to increase gun-related crimes. In fact, increases in gun sales in a particular area actually decrease the number of gun-related violent crimes.
Imagine that. It’s almost like criminals are more likely to not shoot people that are likely to be armed. This phenomenon is currently on display in Virginia, where the gun crime rate has dropped while firearms sales have reached record highs. Since 2006, the total number of guns purchased in the state has risen by 73 percent, while gun-related offenses have dropped more than 27 percent.
If you’re going to use horrific crimes to advocate for your political positions, at least make sure you get your facts straight. Maybe if Kasandra had been armed, her daughter wouldn't be an orphan today.
Does it surprise you that gun violence goes down when gun sales go up?
Image via Marcin Wichary/Flickr
Tie-Dye for the Fourth of July!
Kim and Kanye's Baby Name Predictions!
Moms Love Birthday Parties, Too!
Father Knows Best - Happy Father's Day!
Comments 53
doesn't surprise me at all.
It would be interesting to know if Belcher had a permit to carry his weapon. Typically those who follow the laws are not the problem (not always, but usually).
And then there is always the obvious, people who plan to murder someone don't care if it is illegal to have a gun. They will get one anyway, or as you stated, use another means.
rayraycoops - what exactly sounds nuts in this article? The facts that crime goes up when it is harder to get a gun? The fact that crime goes down when more people are allowed to get guns? That a murderer will kill even if he doesn't have a gun? Seriously, what is crazy about this?
It says even though gun sales are up, the percentage of people owning guns is going down. So more people aren't buying more guns. It's the same people buying their stock piles for recreational and collection purposes.
I strongly believe in gun control. I think making it more difficult for criminals to obtain guns has successfully paid off multiple times.
By the way, you forgot to mention that Bob Costas was actually quoting a different journalist when he said that. He simply was agreeing with him.
I think anytime there is gun violence is a good time to talk about gun control.
Autumnleaves:
How about, anytime there is gun violence is a good time to talk about gun safety and gun ownership?
Where has tighter gun control successfully paid off? And what do you consider 'successful?' Just curious, since crime usually goes UP when gun control is tighter.